Why?
by HardfacedQueenofMisadventure
Summary: Sequel to Gravitate. Smith and Trinity consider the events of that fateful afternoon in the Matrix, and their consequences.
1. Chapter 1

**Back again, my friends! I've had a lot of requests to write more Trinity/Smith fic, and today I decided to grant your wish. This is almost a direct follow-on from my last Trinity/Smith oneshot "Gravitate", so do yourself a favour and go and read that first, or this will make no sense to you. Or, if you have read it already, feel free to go and refresh your memory, I can always use the readership :)**

* * *

Trinity jolted out of a dream filled with cascading shadows and cold, cold eyes, an aborted cry catching in her chest, jagged like a piece of metal. Her eyes, heavy-lidded with sleep, darted keenly from one corner of the darkened cabin to the other before her mind roused itself enough to realise that there was no threat. Even so, she was wide awake now, more alert than she'd ever been.

Her shoulder was killing her. She'd been checked over almost as soon as she'd jacked out, proclaimed unhurt aside from a slight strain. Her health and wellbeing ascertained, everyone had pounced on her at once, asking the same question.

 _What happened?_

In truth, she had no answer for them. They wouldn't be able to understand the simple truth. She barely understood it herself. An Agent had saved her from certain death, and the entire concept made no sense in the face of everything she'd been taught. And now, especially now, with her tired and aching and confused, it still made no damn sense.

One thing did make sense, though. She wasn't likely to get any more sleep until she got the pain in her shoulder to quit.

So she got up, ignoring the chill in the air that never really went away, to go and hunt down some pain relief.

She took two of the little capsules she found, and then, after a little consideration, an extra one, in the hopes that it would help her to sleep. She had no intention of dreaming any more tonight.

Her face, reflected in her water cup, was pale, her hair sticking up every which way. For a moment, she saw a flash of her face as it had been reflected in the chill black glass of the Agent's glasses. Terrified.

 _An Agent would sneer, call me pathetic. And then, probably, let go of me. Watch as I fell to my death._

 _Forget about it, Trinity. Just be thankful you're still alive._

She shut her eyes, rested her forehead against the cold steel surface of the table, tried in vain to shut her brain up.

 _He held me so tightly._ She'd expected to see bruises on her forearm, fingerprints betraying her, betraying them both. She lightly fingered the area now, remembering the throb and burn of flesh squeezed too tightly.

 _Why?_

Agents didn't save lives. It was not in their programming.

What had happened to her… was impossible. It should not have been able to happen at all.

And yet here she was.

One thing was for certain, Trinity thought as a wave of drug-induced drowsiness washed over her, she was going to have to find a way to talk to this Agent.

* * *

 **That could definitely be an interesting conversation, Trin. This story does have a second part, from Agent Smith's POV, and I'll probably try and post that either later on tonight or tomorrow, depending on my mood. As always, remember to leave feedback (constructive or otherwise) and I am always open for requests.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the second part. Just be warned, I find it significantly harder to write from Smith's POV, which may or may not be reflected in the quality of this chapter.**

* * *

It made no sense.

It had been an action without thought, and yet the memory of it still plagued him with its impossibility. He would have been willing to call his actions reflexive, except that, unlike a human, he had greater control over such things. He would not have reached out and caught a falling virus, consciously or otherwise.

He knew this one, though. There was that. She was one of the rebels, one of those who still blindly searched for the One. He'd pursued her many times before, and each time she had managed to evade him. He did not believe in such things, but this one had fortune on her side, clearly.

But, more than that, he knew her name. She was always his chase, his hunt. He knew how fast she could run, how she reacted if cornered. Not that it signified. She meant nothing to him, named or otherwise. She was just another threat, like all the rest. Something else to be eradicated from the system by any means necessary.

 _So why had he saved her?_

It went against his programming, which in itself was a frightening concept. If he continued to display such aberrant behaviour, he would be recalled to the Source, to either be reprogrammed or deleted.

 _I should have left her to die._

Not that that mattered, either. There were countless others like him throughout the Matrix, and, doubtless, another would be created to take his place.

In his mind's eye, he saw a flash of her eyes, wide-open and afraid. How she'd trembled when he set her back on her feet. How badly he'd just wanted to turn away, to walk away and leave her now that he's already done the impossible.

But he didn't.

Something had compelled him to remain where he was, to watch her run away without a backward glance.

Until, that is, she did look back. Even from that distance, he'd felt her eyes on his face. Searching, curious now, rather than afraid.

He'd heard her words of gratitude, almost inaudible on the wind.

He'd wanted to forget the entire incident. But he could not. It was a part of his memory now, written into him as irrevocably as the rest of his code.

A flaw, a glitch, a malfunction.

Another threat to be erased.

He would return to the Source willingly, he decided. Remove this… mutation from his mind before it could spread any further.

But first, Smith thought, he would find this human again.

* * *

 **And what will go down when these two meet again...? To be honest, I've no idea, I haven't got that far yet. What would you like to see happen? Suggestions are always welcome!**


End file.
